MEXICO. Humboldt asserts that within the;e states almost all the vegetable produc tions may be grown which are found between the equator and the polar circle. Any enu meration of them here would therefore be unnecessary. The agriculture of the table lands does not supply any article for expor tation. Cotton is grown along the shores of the Pacific, and in the valley of the Rio Nasas, in a deep depression of the northern table land ; and coffee on the eastern coast, west of the town of Vera Cruz ; sugar is cultivated in many places, and a considerable quantity is exported; cocoa is collected in the low country along the river Huasacualco ; and indigo along the southern coast, but only for home consumption. Tobacco, which in many parts succeeds very well, is only permitted to be grown in certain places.
, The domestic animals, brought over from Europe by the Spaniards, have multiplied greatly in Mexico, owing to the wide tracts which are not or cannot be cultivated, and which afford pasture-ground for nine or ten months of the year. Cattle is abundant, both on the table-lands and the lower tracts. Jerked beef and horns are exported. Sheep are numerous on the table-lands, especially on the northern, which are much drier; and wool is an article of exportation. Horses abound generally. Horses and mules are ex ported in great numbers to the United States. On the great plains bordering on the Red River and the Arkansas the American buffalo abounds. Game is abundant, especially deer and hares. The cochineal insect is reared with great care on the table-land of Mixtecapan, whence by far the greatest part is brought to the markets of the world.
Mexico is noted for its mines of gold and silver. The gold mines occur chiefly on the western side of the Sierra Madre, north of 24° N. lat. : the silver mines are richest on the mountains which rise on -the table-lands, and in those which border their margin. Be sides the precious metals, Mexico has abund ance of copper, iron, and lead, which are worked. The iron mines, however, have only been opened since the year 1825. A quick silver mine is worked at S. Onofre, on the northern declivity of the Sierra Madre. The carbonate of soda, which is necessary for the smelting of the silver ore, is collected in several lakes, where it is found crystallised on the surface in great abundance.
Before the Mexican Revolution in 1810, there were many flourishing manufactures in Mexico, the annual produce of which amounted to from eight to ten millions of Spanish dollars, or about two millions of English money. The most considerable were those of cotton and wool in the towns of Puebla, Cholula, Tlaseala, Queretaro, Lagos, Guada• laxara, and Tezcuco. The manufactures of soap, leather, and saddlery were also con siderable. The manufacturers owed their prosperity to the high price at which, under a system of monopoly, European goods were sold in that country. After the harbours were
thrown open to a free trade (in 1820) the manufactures began to decline, and are now much diminished.
The commercial intercourse between the coast and the table-lands is difficult on account of the steep ascent to the table-lands from the coast. Even in those parts where there is no obstacle to the use of carriages, the goods are commonly carried by mules, on account of the great number of these animals, and the low price at which they are bought.
The maritime commerce is considerable ; but it is carried on chiefly in foreign vessels, Mexico possessing few vessels of her own. In the beginning of the present century the ex ports, according to Humboldt, amounted to 22,000,000 of Spanish dollars, and the im ports to 15,000,000 of dollars. Between 1820 and 1830, however, the exports considerably diminished, on account of the comparatively small produce of the mines, the precious metals constituting the principal article of ex portation. The coinage of gold and silver in Mexico in 1845 amounted to 15,141,816 dol lars. The amount of gold coined in Mexico in the 18 months ending June, 1840, was 1,351,416 dollars, and of silver, 27,003,989 dollars; which, with nine or ten million dol lars' worth left uncoined, present a total of about 38,000,000 dollars' worth raised in 18 months. It is understood that, but for the high price of quicksilver for smelting or amal gamating, the produce would have been larger.
The total Mexican exports are estimated at about 20,000,000 dollars, of which 18,000,000 are in precious metals. The British and Irish produce exported to Mexico in 1848 was valued at 045,9371. Our imports from Mexico consist chiefly of cochineal and logwood.
The aboriginal architecture of Mexico re sembles that of Egypt, not only in the vast scale and massiveness of its monuments, but in the application of the pyramid, or of forms composed of it. Pyramids not inferior to those of Egypt, and some of even still larger dimensions in their plan or base, exist in the Mexican territories ; and examples of the second class occur in pyramid towers, consist ing of a series of truncated pyramids placed one above another, each successive one being smaller than the one on which it immediately rests, so that it stands upon a platform or terrace. At Teotihuacan, about eight leagues to the north-east of the city of Mexico, are an immense number of pyramids, several hundred small ones ranged in files or lines, and two larger ones consecrated to the sun and moon. Besides monuments which are chiefly works of magnificence, others exist which attest the high degree of civilization attained by the aboriginal nations of Mexico, such as Cyclo pean roads and bridges. The former of these were constructed of huge blocks of stone, and frequently carried on a continued level, so as to be viaducts across valleys.